That's slightly more power than my 98 Civic, and slightly less weight. That's what I thought would probably be the case when I heard it was a 1.6L car. Not a surprise they can price it cheaply, if it is well-tested technology built with contemporary supply chains and machines.

It might be interesting to add some other cars (in a separate table?). For instance, BMW 3-series are considered to be somewhat sporty. 320i comes in at 3295lbs/180hp = 18.3lbs/hp. It wouldn't take much at all to get the Micra to be just as quick as a car three times the price.

I guess I wasn't clear enough above. I meant cars that are not in the same category. All the cars in your table are subcompact commuter cars.

BMW 3-series is a much larger sports sedan and yet has a pretty close power/weight ratio with the base engine. I imagine there are other examples that are also similar: cars with much higher horsepower but the high weight would give similar performance figures.

Telling someone that the Micra is faster than a Smart ForTwo is going to get nothing but a yawn. Tell someone that this itty-bitty hatch is faster than a BMW and they might think a little and pay attention.

There is more to performance than a simple power-to-weight ratio calculation. There's aerodynamics, gear ratios, and weight distribution combined with tire design plays a big role in stability at higher speeds...at a certain point, there's a reason why rear drums are substituted for discs.

In our culture obsessed with absurd excess, the Nissan Micra is my counterculture car of choice.
Be sure to visit my blog at mymicra.com!

Performance agreed but in a drag race power to weight is everything. Gearing does matte in a drag race but ponies per pound is huge. The same can be said about oval track racing especially four cylinders. My experience with that is one hundred pounds added no matter where you place it = 3/4 of a second per lap. Tires are a given they are the only contact points and the best use you get from them four points of contact the better. I have had my micra for three days now (860 km.) I find first gear a tad low but its only been three days but I did get the traction control to kick in on a uphill right turn in third gear on dry pavement, that thing only lets off enough to keep grip pretty cool.